Author: The Graced Citizen

As I seek the Lord and read His word more diligently, I quickly realized that being a Christian is being more than just reading and just being a “Proverbs 31 woman” . That is just one minute aspect of how I should be living. What about the rest of the Bible?

I mean in all truth and fact, the Bible which starts at Genesis and ends at Revelation, has far more teachings on how to live as a Christian and how to really walk the walk and talk the talk about Jesus.

Yes, that woman is very important. She is a Godly, virtuous woman that I still aspire to be. Proverbs 31 shows us woman who I believe nowadays is a little rare: trustworthy, industrious, organized, displayed true integrity and she was loving. She managed her resources well and used her God given gifts and talents. She is filled with wisdom and her husband of course respected and trusted her.

She is truly an example to follow.

BUT.

Sometimes I feel like the world idolizes this woman with the wrong, incomplete perspective. We idolize the idea of her so much that we forget to pay attention to the truth of her foundation. What made the Proverbs 31 woman so great?

You see, she understood that God was her foundation. She knew that without Him, she was incapable of being the well rounded, respected woman described in this chapter. She lived out Matthew 6:33 and most importantly, she feared the Lord.

Matthew 6:33 NLT says:

33 Seek the Kingdom of Godabove all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Proverbs 31:31 NLT says:

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

I couldn’t expect to grow spiritually by just aiming to be that Proverbs 31 woman the world portrays. I had to seek the truths she knew, sought and understood in order to become that woman.

The reality is that test have come my way where I was stretched in every area of my life. Once you begin to walk in the will of God, test will come. Sadly, reading Proverbs 31 alone could not bring me through these test. Some days require the book of Psalms, some days I am reading Genesis reminding myself that I was created in His image, some days it was Corinthians or Romans on Paul’s examples of christian living and some days it was in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – studying Jesus’s life and teachings. It required me to read the Word and to pour out my heart in prayers + being still before the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is so important.

Lauren Oquist said: ” Proverbs 31 is not a prescription for us to fulfill, but a testimony of how God is shaping us into His image. If I listed character trait I aspire to have, I’d wind up with pages and pages. But without the fear of the Lord, none of these aspirations amount to anything. Why? Because every good thing in my life will be a direct result of my relationship with God.”

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them. Acts 16:25 read also Job 23: 8-14, Isaiah 48:10-11, John 16:33, Psalms 138:8 and 1 Peter 1:1-8. Be encouraged sis and know that whatever it is God has you in the palm of his hand. Praying for you…”

Before I begin, I am writing this post in full Hallelujah praise. I am filled and encouraged. I am basically preaching to myself with this post.

The comment not only wrecked me in the moment but it elevated me because in that moment, I was holding on to a thin piece of threaded faith. I was trusting God, even though it was hurting and I was tempted to try to make things happen in my own will because I wasn’t seeing God’s promise unfold in the way and time I expected. I began to feel like a double-minded faith hypocrite!

Aqua sharing these words and verses with me encouraged me to keep the faith to hold on to God’s promises even further. It challenged me to let go of my human nature to control every situation and to activate my faith even stronger. To pray even harder. To praise consistently. Paul and Silas prayed and praised right through their trials in prison and here I am about to lose faith and just give up because things seem a little dim?!

Psalm 138:8 NLT says:

8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

John 16:33 NLT says:

33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

As I read the comment over and over and OVER again – it really reminded me of the importance of Godly community and the fact that we are not on this walk alone. It reminded me how easy I had forgotten what God had already brought me through. I couldn’t worry and remember what God has done for me at the same time.

These verses were a reminder that God hears me. He hears every single prayer. He knows and sees my heart and desires of my heart.

Then the Holy Spirit spoke “what the enemy can’t destroy – he distracts”

You see, when you are so close to the edge of a breakthrough – that’s when the enemy tries to take you down. Satan only has the amount of access that I give to him. In that moment, I needed to shut the door and pray his lies out! Satan sees me on my faith walk and he is gonna try everything in his wannabe power to make me go into panic mode when I think I am about to fail. Satan would have loved me to isolate and to take my eye off the promise. He wanted me to slip into darkness. He wanted me to slip into a spirit of discouragement, discontentment and distrust. If the enemy had his way, I would worry constantly about the things of this world and to worry about the things of the world would mean that I do not trust the Lord 100%.

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding.6 Seek his will in all you do,and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 16:9 says:

9 We can make our plans,but the Lord determines our steps.

I serve a greater, living, mighty God- who is so faithful and ever present. He will never leave or forsake me. Mi a God Pickney! (sorry, I got a little Jamaican patios involved – translation: I am God’s child). He has called me exactly to this fork in the road and by His will, I will see the other side of the promise.

So I pray harder. Praise harder. Seek His will even harder. I will walk the rest of the day and my life through by being souled out and serving Him. No matter the circumstances. It’s a Psalm 23,27,51,62,91 or just the whole book kinda day! Armoring up!

What are you worried about today? I am guilty of this but catch yourself. Remind yourself that God is charge. Surround yourself with a Godly community.

He orders our steps and leads us on the RIGHT path His way. Stop planning without including His will.

Stop worrying.

Stop over-thinking.

Lean on Him and let Him lead you.

I am so thankful for my online community. I just love how we pray each other up, encourage and help as much as we can – even if we are millions of miles away. I feel the love

Like this:

Today was hard, I literally felt every ounce of my mind, body and soul being tested. I literally felt stressed and stretched. I felt like I needed to worry about everything that just was not working out around me today. But in the midst of it all I refused to complain.

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!””

And it started up the WHOLE HYMN IN MY HEART… completely wrecked me. I kept singing and believing …..just like that miracles unfolded right before my eyes. My day/night completely turned around. God is so faithful. He never fails me yet!

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!” Morning by morning new mercies I see;

Like this:

I need surrendered hands, not tied up hands. I can’t be trying to enter a new season with being lukewarm, having baggage, being fearful and carrying pain. I will have to lose some things. I can’t lift my hands to praise God and have my hands full. Letting go and letting God requires full surrender.

Hebrews12:1 says:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

I can’t expect to receive something new if I’m holding onto old things.

Like this:

At times the journey of faith can be very hard. Sometimes it’s hard for us to remember that each closed door has a reason.

Jesus closes doors in order to protect us from the things He knows we do not need. His hand is on you, always. Every test, every trial, every hurt, every disappointment- persevere because your breakthrough is closer than you think.